A personal blog owned by Zilko, who regularly writes about his life, or anything that comes up to his mind

Category Archives: My Interest

In the last four to five months, I have been following Star Trek’s most recent series, Star Trek: Discovery. And just this weekend (Well, Monday for the Dutch Netflixer like me), the first season was concluded.

If I have to describe the first season of this new series, I will go with “a series full of plot twists“, hahaha 😆 . << Spoiler Alert >> You know, Ash Tyler was actually Voq, Gabriel Lorca was actually from the Mirror universe, Mirror Philippa Georgiou was the cruel and evil emperor of the Terran Empire, and the appointment of Mirror Philippa Georgiou as the captain of USS Discovery after being brought to the Prime (our) universe by Michael Burnham. <<Spoiler Done >> This made this series exciting, to me, as it led me to not know what to expect. Even though at some point I felt like it went overdose with the plot-twisting, lol 😆 .

On the other hand, and I have mentioned this before, this series focused a lot on the action part (Mainly the Federation vs Klingon war and getting trapped in the Mirror Universe and the return attempt) and not at all on the social/interpersonal/intrapersonal conflict aspect like the other Star Trek series. So this definitely gave a really different vibe of a Star Trek series to me.

Each episode was also made not independent of each other; and that one would need to follow the series from the beginning to know what was going on. When you watch one of Star Trek: Voyager‘s episodes, for instance, most of the time you would not need to watch the previous episodes to understand what was going on.

<< Spoiler Alert, Again >>

Ironically, though, IMO the season finale was the “most Star Trek” episode. An away mission (finally!) down to an establishment on an alien planet (Klingon’s Qo’Nos) and ending the war with a (to some degree) diplomacy. On one hand this could feel anticlimatic because most of the preceding episodes were full of fights and wars, that one (or I, at least) would expect to see some “actions” in the finale. But on the other hand this made a lot of sense. The story arc in those preceding episodes was “controlled” by a Terran (Mirror Gabriel Lorca and Mirror Philippa Georgiou), who loved and lived on fights and wars. In this episode, the “real” Starfleet and Federation finally took charge, via the lead of Michael Burnham.

So in the end, I was overall satisfied with the finale! Though, one thing disappointed me a little bit, where they only used one line mentioning that the spore technology was off the table (Starfleet was committed to finding non-human interface, according to Stamets (which, obviously, wasn’t successful in the end)). But to top it off, this season ended with the most coolest cliff-hanger ever, where the USS Discovery crew encountered a distress call from … the USS Enterprise!!

At the end of the day, the biggest and most important question is: “Did I enjoy this new series?” And the answer to this was “Yes!“. Haha 😆 So despite the “shift” in the characteristics of Star Trek series (despite the very Star Trek finale), overall I still felt like the writers (and everyone involved) did a great job in creating an enjoyable and exciting series, which made me look forward to it everytime I went back from work on Monday!

And so certainly I am excited that a second season has been ordered, and I am looking forward to it! Even though I still have a little bit of hope that the overall tone of second season will be a little bit “more Star Trek”. But nonetheless, we will see!!

I started writing the draft of this post just two days before the start of my November 2017 trip to Indonesia. While it was not a “eureka” moment whatsoever, the context was very relevant at the time which made me want to write it down 😛 .

To me, the moment just before the start of a big trip or vacation is one of the worst! Well, as in it feels like there are so many things going on that need to be taken care of while in reality, there might actually not be. It is true, though, that to me there are a few separate factors occupying my mind at such time and they are conditionally forced to interact with each other. I hypothesize this interaction is what causes that feeling!

First of all, there are of course work stuffs. Having a big vacation coming up actually can be seen as an extra deadline; but not imposed by a project or my superior or anything, but by myself, haha. To me, whenever possible I always want to start a vacation or a trip on a clear state of mind, without any work-related “luggage” carried on. This, however, means that I feel the strong urge to finish my current tasks before I go and this can certainly be quite stressful.

Separate from that, there is of course the excitement. I mean, who wouldn’t feel excited just before a big trip? Daydreaming forward on the nice coming trip makes the present somehow feels a little bit more miserable. And for this trip to Indonesia, the Dutch Fall weather certainly did not help at all.

On the other hand, there is also the important preparation, like packing and preparing all the documents and stuffs (making sure to have my flight tickets and hotel reservations ready, for instance). And then of course the lingering sneaky thought of “Am I forgetting something?“.

All in all, this results in me facing myself and my mind to multitask. On top of that, as I said, these factors do not stand by themselves as they interact with each other. And so this time can certainly be quite stressful! Haha 😛 . I noticed myself that week where I appeared to be uncharacteristically “rushing” a little bit more and less calm than usual.

But of course given the amount of my experience with travelling, that was not my first experience handling such situation. I have learned that since weeks before the trip, I would need to start the anticipation. For my work, I started to arrange my schedule accordingly, and told my colleagues and stakeholders in advance about my plan. This helped in making the “size” of the deadline to be more manageable. For the preparation, I started packing my suitcase since a few days before the trip. So no last minute packing! Haha 😛 . And I made a list on what I would need to bring. For the excitement, unfortunately, there was nothing that I could do, haha…

But well, eventually this all leads to the trip itself where the moment the trip begins is, on the other hand, one of the best!

And as it turned out this was a great show! The show started by following Piper Chapman who voluntarily surrendered to the Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum security women’s federal prison. And the story developed from there, including exploring the lives of many of the characters she met in the prison (not only the inmates, but also some of the guards). Though, some aspect of the show could be “too vulgar” for some audience, overall I felt like this show was really well written and well executed! The drama, the politics, the acting, etc were great!

Anyway, following OITNB right after Star Trek: Voyager was quite a funny experience because Kate Mulgrew was one of the main casts in both shows! She played Captain Kathryn Janeway in Voyager and Galina “Red” Reznikov in OITNB. And so when I started OITNB I found it funny that (old) Kathryn Janeway somehow became an inmate in a New York prison, haha 😛

I managed to snatch seat 10K, a window seat in the first row of economy comfort, while checking-in online the day before the trip. I was able to get this seat in economy comfort for free thanks to my new Platinum status (Normally, one would have had to pay €160 extra just to sit there on this flight to San Francisco!). Anyway, seat 10K was actually the second best seat for me on this flight. The best one would have been seat 10A because it would provide a bird’s eye view of San Francisco upon landing but that seat had already been taken, damn! Haha 😛 .

Checking in for my flight KL 605

Long story short, I arrived at Schiphol and checked my luggage in, upon which I also got a paper boarding pass. I waited for the flight at the KLM Crown Lounge and then went to the gate about 20 minutes before boarding time. The flight today would be operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD which KLM named “Bougainville”.

KLM’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD was ready to go to SFO

As you could see in the photo above, the weather at Schiphol today was not at the best condition. After all passengers at the gate boarded, the captain informed us that we were not given the green light to depart yet because we were still waiting for some connecting passengers whose coming flights to Amsterdam were delayed due to Schiphol’s current limited runway capacity. And so we had to sit in the plane for about an hour before we were finally given the permission to go. We took off from runway 24 and PH-BHD turned northwest towards California.

Finally taking off from runway 24 of AMS

Let’s start with the seat. KLM configured their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with the 3-3-3 layout in economy. This layout was actually fine. But to me, the “problem” was, just about two weeks prior I was flying a Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 777-300ER which Garuda also configured with the 3-3-3 layout (While many other airlines, including KLM, chose to configure their Boeing 777s with the 3-4-3 layout). However, a Boeing 777-300ER was a bigger airplane, hence wider cabin, than a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. I guess because of this, somehow PH-BHD’s cabin felt a little bit “crammed” to me, haha.

A KLM Dreamliner selfie

Anyway, shortly after take-off, a snack and drink service was provided. The snack was a delicious roasted almond and I chose to pair it with white wine, haha. After the snack service, the flight attendants distributed the warm tissues service, a typical KLM’s long-haul service in economy which was really nice IMO.

I then started to watch the classic movie The Graduate at the AVOD IFE. Speaking of the AVOD, I wasn’t that much impressed with the content (in terms of movies and songs) this time, unfortunately. Though, perhaps the fact that there had been not a lot of new movies which excited me in the past several months might play a role in this too, haha.

The lunch service on board KLM flight KL605

The lunch service was provided not long after; with the choice being a vegetarian or a meatball dish. Obviously I opted for the meatball one, haha 😛 . And it was good!

Just after lunch, the map showed that we were already flying above … Greenland! I was of course excited about this and looked out the window! Greenland was, unlike its name, fully white as it was covered with snow and ice, haha.

Greenland, which looked more white than green to me.

PH-BHD then continued to fly towards Canada, upon which an ice cream snack service was provided. After finishing The Graduate, I decided to watch a second movie, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. And also, I tried KLM’s wifi which were available on their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The wifi access was based on data instead of time, which was a factor I did not really like. But in terms of price, I thought their pricing was fair enough, even though a few times I had small problems with the connectivity.

Btw, as usual in a long-haul KLM flight, the flight attendants went on many rounds around the cabin bringing a tray of drinks for the passengers, which was, of course, such a very nice service! More snacks were also available at the galley. As we were entering the United States air space, the late lunch service was provided, which was also tasty.

The late lunch service on board KLM flight KL605

Long story short, at around 1 PM local time we started our descent towards San Francisco International Airport. We were not able to recover from our departure delay, though; and so we still arrived in San Francisco about one hour behind schedule. At 1:28 PM, we landed at runway 28L of San Francisco International Airport, here is the landing video:

PH-BHD parked at the International Terminal where I saw Emirates’, Japan Airlines’, Korean Air’s, Air France’s, and Aeromexico’s planes. Our delay meant that we arrived after all these airlines resulting in: very long lines at immigration! 😖 I had to wait for more than an hour before clearing immigration! And so when I arrived at the baggage area, my bag was already waiting for me nicely there, haha.

I exited the terminal and went to the BART station to take the train to Downtown San Francisco. And here, my two weeks vacation in California started!!

As my Instagram followers (@azilko) have known, yesterday I went on another Avgeek Weekend Trip. Yeah, yeah, I know, I just came back from my 2017 year end trip to California just literally 48 hours before! Quite crazy I know and indeed I was pushing my body to the limit here, haha 😛 . But I feel like it was actually good to help me combat this terrible jetlag! 😀

I took a KLM’s flight KL1233 from Amsterdam to Paris with a Boeing 737-800 reg PH-BXL. Then I took an Air France’s flight AF1318 to Frankfurt with an Airbus A320-200 reg F-GKXL. Lastly, I took a KLM Cityhopper flight KL1770 back to Amsterdam with an Embraer ERJ190 reg PH-EXC.

In most part, all were regular and pleasant flights with KLM and Air France. With my Platinum status, I could assign myself seats in economy comfort for free in both KLM flights, haha. I also noticed that yesterday in particular was not a really busy flying day. The KLM Crown Lounge at Schiphol was not that busy, and all the seats next to mine in my Air France and KLM Cityhopper flights were empty!

My routing this time was (almost) a carbon copy of my trip back to Europe from my Indonesia Summer Trip back in 2015. The only differences were that (1) Instead of taking flight GA213 from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, I took flight GA211, (2) Instead of Terminal 2, Garuda Indonesia already moved to the brand new Terminal 3 Ultimate in Jakarta, and (3) This time I was entitled the SkyPriority benefits with my KLM status; I hadn’t reached that status yet back in August 2015. Anyway, let the trip report begin!

The route map this year was a carbon copy of my 2015 trip. Created with gcmap.com

After checking-in at the SkyPriority desk, I went to Garuda Indonesia Executive Lounge at the airport. This was my second visit to this small lounge this year, after the first time being earlier this year during my trip back to Amsterdam via Bali, Shanghai, and Paris, haha. Unlike that other time, the lounge was very busy this time around.

The Garuda Indonesia Executive Lounge at Adisutjipto Airport.

Anyway, my flight to Jakarta today would be operated with a Boeing 737-800 reg PK-GNG which had Boeing Sky Interior! From Flightradar24 I knew beforehand that the flight would be slightly delayed, though.

A Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 737-800 reg PK-GNG at Adisutjipto Airport

Long story short, I went to the gate and was the first passenger to board, haha 😛 . I settled onto my comfortable 21K seat in the first row of economy. After all passengers boarded, we departed and took off from runway 27 of Adisutjipto Airport. See you, Yogyakarta!

See you, Jogja!

Overall it was a pleasant, regular, short-haul flight with Garuda Indonesia. A snack service was distributed short after take-off. I used the AVOD IFE to listen to some music. And as it was an afternoon flight, I spent most of my time also starring out of the window, haha 😛 . About 45 minutes later, we were already on descent to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and the flight attendants prepared for landing.

Not long after, we landed at runway 25L of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the farther runway from Terminal 3 Ultimate meaning the taxiing to the stand would be quite long, haha. Anyway, here is the landing video:

Transiting at Terminal 3 Ultimate

It happened that my arrival gate at Jakarta was at the far end of the domestic side of the terminal. Having an international connection made me realize the gigantic size of Terminal 3 Ultimate. I basically had to walk down almost the entire 1.2 km length of the terminal to get to my connecting gate! Haha 😛 .

White wine at the Garuda Lounge

Anyway, long story short I cleared security and immigration; and then I went to Garuda Indonesia’s International Lounge at the brand new terminal. The lounge appeared to be smaller than its domestic counterpart (see Part II). It a was nice and comfortable lounge with good food and drink selection. As it was an international lounge, white and red wine were also available at the bar section. The wifi connection was also especially fast for Indonesian standard.

Yes, PK-GII, i.e. Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 777-300ER which was in SkyTeam Livery!! 😍 It would be my first time ever catching a Garuda bird in this special alliance colour!

Boarding started a little bit late. I was amongst the first passengers to board and settled onto my comfortable 21K seat. This flight to Singapore made me notice the cost-cutting effort the Garuda management has tried to impose to remain competitive. For once, there was no welcome drink in economy like what I got two years ago on this very same flight, haha.

Boarding screen

Anyway, even after boarding completed, we could not depart because we were still waiting for some documents to be completed. This caused a delay of about 30 minutes. And then of course once we actually departed, we had to face the typical long queue for take-off at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. In the end, we could only take off at 21:25 while our scheduled departure time was 20:30.

Waiting on my 21K seat

We took off from runway 25R and made a turn towards Singapore. Not too long after take-off, the dinner service was provided. The choices were beef lasagna or chicken with noodles. I opted for the first along with wine wine and water as my drink of choice. I found the lasagna to be okay. During this time, I also watched two episodes of The Big Bang Theory, haha…

Beef lasagna for dinner and The Big Bang Theory

About an hour later we started our approach towards Singapore Changi Airport and then landed at runway 02C. Here is the landing video:

It was quite a long taxi towards Terminal 3. Transit passengers were told to disembark the plane and the transit time would be one hour.

Transiting at Changi Airport

Another clear cost-cutting effort was the now non-existence of transit stuffies in Singapore. Two years ago, I got a snack box and a S$30 voucher for shopping at Changi. This year, I got nothing! Haha 😛 . And so I just went to the Information Kiosk to get a wifi password before immediately going to the gate to wait for boarding.

No transit stuffies this time around.

Anyway, technically, the next flight would be a fifth freedom flight as I would be flying a Garuda Indonesia flight from Singapore to the Netherlands! An aspect which I was quite excited about because it would be my only fifth freedom flight this year.

Upon boarding, I found out that my neighbouring two seats were taken by a young couple with a baby! Because my seat was a window seat, I immediately realized that the spaciousness I previously got from my 21K seat would be heavily compromised. After take-off, a baby basinet would be installed occupying most of that space. While this was certainly a discomfort to me, this was actually indeed the “risk” of picking this seat, haha. Of course I could not “win” all the time.

The safety demo

Anyway, long story short we departed after boarding finished. It was almost a full flight to Amsterdam today, with a load factor of at least 95% in economy, which was really impressive IMO! We took off from runway 02L and headed northwest towards Europe.

Another round of dinner service (with the same options) was served not long after take-off. I was still feeling full so I declined the service and only asked for a glass of guava juice, haha. During this time, we were flying above Aceh, not too far away (I guess) from where Cyclone “Dahlia” was the day before. As a result, we faced some not-so-light turbulences, haha.

There were turbulences in this area.

In the meantime, I tried to sleep because I was feeling really sleepy. As a matter of fact, I actually could sleep for about six hours, which was quite impressive for my standard! It also happened that I slept during the part of the flight along the turbulence area, haha. Btw somewhere along the way, the in-between-fuel service was served, which was a salmon sandwich.

The in-between fuel service

I woke up when we were already somewhere above the Turkish airspace. I was quite awake already that I knew trying to go back to sleep would be a futile attempt, haha. So I watched several more episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

About two hours before landing, the breakfast service started. The options were between omelette and chicken with rice; I opted for the latter. To accompany my breakfast, I was torn to watch either Hidden Figures or Trinity, the Nekad Traveller, haha 😛 . Thinking that it would be difficult for me to watch an Indonesian movie in the Netherlands, I chose he latter 😛 .

Chicken and rice for breakfast.

Anyway at around 7:15 local time we were already on approach to Schiphol Airport. It was still dark outside when the flight attendants were preparing for landing:

And not too long after, we landed at runway 18C of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Here is the landing video:

PK-GII then parked at gate G5. We disembarked and I cleared immigration. It was awesome that my luggages were delivered at the belt exactly by the time I reached the luggage area! This was certainly because of my SkyTeam Elite Plus status! My luggages were tagged with priority labels so I got to “avoid” the problem of long waiting for luggages at Schiphol! 😛

Anyway, then I took the train to Amsterdam Centraal; and here my November 2017 Indonesia Trip officially ended.

Just like in 2015 and 2016, I am going to recap my flying activities this year 😛 .

In terms of the number of flights, I broke a personal record this year with 67 flights, breaking last year’s record of 57 🙈. Though distance-wise, I only travelled a little bit further at 48,695 miles (78,367 km) compared to last year’s 46,075 miles (74,150 km). And here is how those 48,695 miles shaped this year:

Just like last year, again, I did not do too many intercontinental trips this year, and this is well reflected in the map. This, indeed, means that I traveled more within Europe. And here is the European part of the map above:

My flying map of 2017 inside Europe. Created with gcmap.com

Anyway, here are some more stats:

By routes

My only fifth freedom flight this year was with this Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing 777-300ER reg PK-GII in SkyTeam Livery from Singapore to Amsterdam.

Though, I notice that, despite having more flights than, say, last year or the year before that, somehow I felt like this year was “less exciting” in some departments. Perhaps this is a sign that I should “spice things up” a little bit for 2018? Hmm…